The worst task in internal communication?

What is the worst task you have performed in the name of internal communication?

I don’t mean communicating difficult messages or some of the other challenging aspects that come with the job, but those unusual scenarios you can often find yourself in.

I wrote about the Melcrum Live event last week and how it came up as a topic of conversation there. Since publishing that article I have been Tweeted numerous examples by IC pros and am going to share them with you.

To put them in context, which is always helpful, the discussion at Melcrum was led by Sophie Sheppard, their Head of Relationship Management, Training and Delivery.

She guided delegates through the diverse roles, responsibilities and activities undertaken by the modern Internal Communicator and the ways in which tactical and strategic activities are balanced.

Further reading: You can read more and see the new Melcrum competency model in last week’s article.

Examples that came up last week included:

washing hundreds of strawberries

wrapping up Christmas presents

negotiating the release of cream-filled Belgium chocolates from Customs

fashioning a hood for an autocue via an IC pro’s personal sewing machine

putting up thousands of pictures in the London 2012 Olympic village bedrooms

Plus my absolute favourite: sewing up the, ahem, bottom area of a Superman costume – with the company CEO still inside.

Reflections
It made me think about mine, ones that sprung to mind: When I was Head of Communications at LOROL I ended up donating some of my make-up (face powder) to the BBC’s Politics Show team to use on former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone‘s forehead and nose.

We were filming at one of our railway stations on a super sunny day and the usual make-up kit wasn’t with the crew so I ended up rummaging in my handbag and seeing what I could rustle up.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I have had to poke microphones up/down CEO’s clothing, and hastily locate ‘serious’ ties or non-striped shirts (can often distort on screen) for spokespeople to be able to conduct media interviews appropriately.

Top tip: always have a dark/black tie to hand!

So in a light-hearted post as we’re rapidly heading towards the end of the week, take a few moments to read through these examples that IC pros have Tweeted me.

Do check out the Melcrum information for more details on the steps to take to shift from tactical to strategic communicators.

Final thought from me is that internal communication and IC pros experience a rich tapestry of roles, responsibilities and scenarios throughout the course of their career.

As with many other professions, you may often find yourself in unusual situations, like those detailed by people in my network below.

You’re not alone!

Got one to add to the list? I’m @AllthingsIC or you’re welcome to comment below,

Thank you as ever for stopping by,

Rachel

@AllthingsIC myself and a colleague built 4 fooseball tables for an IC event. A real IKEA job and sore fingers